Is Jeremy Morin Heading To the AHL?

The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to find any loophole they can to keep Jeremy Morin from returning to the Kitchener Rangers as a 19-year-old. The NHL and CHL have an agreement in place stating that anyone age 19 and under who fails to stick with the NHL club owning their rights must be returned to their junior club.

The problem is that Chicago believes that Morin is AHL-ready and they're not too keen on the idea of sending him back to Kitchener. The Blackhawks also are claiming that, because Morin was drafted as a member of the U.S. National Under-18 team, he falls under a different set of rules. The U.S. National program currently has no rules about players drafted by the NHL.

Should Chicago manage to assign Morin to their AHL affiliate in Rockford, it could mark the end of the CHL. Junior-eligible players everywhere won't want to play in the CHL if they know that they can make the almighty greenback in the AHL. You will end up seeing a much younger and less talented crop of players being developed in the three leagues that compose the CHL.

The NHL should consider that most 19-year-old hockey players are still developing and that a decision of this caliber could also affect the quality of talent in their own league. Why send a player to the AHL when they can spend an extra year working on their skills against players their own age?